Thursday, February 02, 2012

My next Sophie novel, Danger, Desire & Double A Batteries will be ready for release as an ebook in a few weeks. It's my first adventure into self-publishing and I'm a little nervous about the process...but also more than a little excited. It's been a full year and a half since the last Sophie novel was released by Mira (click here for the drama filled story as to why it took so long for me to write the next one) and I'm hopeful that Sophie will continue to hold on to the support of the readers who have stood by her from the beginning as well as attract new readers who will befriend her. Below is the prologue. If you like it and want to continue to follow the story I'll be posting more pages on The Next Sophie Katz Adventure blog every Friday.

Hope you enjoy it!

Prologue

People who really hate you don’t usually call you up for a chat, particularly if they know their animosity is mutual. Sure, an enemy might gossip about you behind your back or, if you’re an author like me, they’ll probably give you a one star review on Amazon (if you’re a business owner with enemies it might not hurt to check your Yelp page). But it’s rare that someone will pull out their smartphone and waste precious calling-minutes and dwindling battery power just so they can rattle off a few tightly phrased insults. Not if they have a Twitter account.

So when Fawn called I knew something big was up. There are few people who I hate more than Fawn. For one thing she slept with my friend Mary Ann’s boyfriend, Rick. Of course Rick is what the British would call a wanker and Mary Ann has now moved on to Monty, a better and slightly less annoying guy who has offered her love, fidelity, an engagement ring and a very generous pre-nup. So under different circumstances I would have considered Fawn’s affair with Rick something to be grateful for.

But sadly it’s not that simple. Fawn is one of those people who goes out of their way to make others miserable. She’s vengeful, catty, jealous, and to use Mary Ann’s words, “just ewwy.”

She is also in jail. She and Rick got into a lovers spat which ended in an attempted murder charge. Karma’s a bitch, but apparently not as big of a bitch as Fawn.

Which means that this woman wasn’t just using up minutes on her cell phone plan to talk to me. She was using up the week’s worth of phone time allotted to her by the California State penitentiary system. You didn’t do that just to be a pest.

“Hello Sophie, did you miss me?” That’s how the conversation started, with her caressing my name with a soft and zealous malice.

As it turns out, Fawn had learned of a secret my live-in boyfriend, Anatoly, had been keeping from me.

Anatoly is the first man I have ever truly loved. I love his hands, I love his little half smile, I love the way his Russian accent gets a little heavier after I’ve kissed him a few times.

I love the way he argues with me when I’m feeling quarrelsome and the way he comforts me when I’m feeling lost. I love that after six years together the passion and tenderness has only grown.

Fawn called to tell me Anatoly had a secret or, to be more specific, she called to tell me that Anatoly had a wife.

I knew when I heard those words that she wasn’t lying. It would be too easy to disprove. Of course the marriage had to have ended before we met, that much seemed obvious, but why hadn’t he ever told me about this? After all, I had been divorced too so I wouldn’t have judged him. What kind of person keeps a failed marriage secret from the woman he shares a home and a bed with? A man who can’t be trusted, that’s who. A man who is incapable of letting anyone in. Ever.

It didn’t feel like Fawn was torturing me with her horrid little phone call. It felt like she was destroying me.

This information was going to cost me both my relationship and the happiness I had spent so many years trying to cultivate.

What I didn’t understand at the time was that the information also had the potential to cost me my life.

2 comments:

Kyra: Congratulations on launching a new Sophie adventure. I hope you know you are not alone in being dropped by a short sighted publisher. Many of my favorite authors have received the same phone call. But thankfully you (and Sophie) have prevailed!! I love this series. I have read the first three and look forward to catching up. However, I don't have an e-reader because I like having the book in my hands. Well, the publishing world is changing and you are riding the wave. Me? I proudly and stubbornly remain a dinosaur... at least for now. Mary Louise

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